The Afghans Need America, and They Know It

By Laili Zikria Helms

Published: December 8, 2001

For peace and a just government to take hold, Afghanistan needs a triumph of unflinching American reason. Stability and development in this nation, the crossroads of Asia, require recognition of two stark realities. First, power in Afghanistan now comes from control of the main border crossings and major roads. With little other infrastructure left -- forms of communication like telephones and the press are largely nonexistent -- roads are the primary conduits not only of goods and people, but of information as well. Second, peace in Afghanistan must be brought to Kabul's door. It will never spread into the countryside from an arbitrary apportionment of power from the capital.

The recent negotiations in Bonn and America's effort to extend its security writ in Afghanistan set up only a titular leader in Hamid Karzai. Although he was briefly deputy foreign minister, he is not seen as a major Pashtun leader or a national figure in Afghanistan. For him to succeed in leading Afghanistan to truly representative government, America will have to be willing to maintain its presence.

America, even now viewed by the Afghan people as the only trustworthy power, must assert control over major roads and border crossings to stabilize the country and allow the re-emergence of a functioning economy. This American role will give Afghanistan's 30 provinces breathing room to select independent provincial and district councils instead of being ruled by the whims of warlords and proxies of foreign powers. Otherwise, the chances for success six months from now, when there is to be a loya jirga, are nil.

The new government, cobbled together in haste at the Bonn talks, is meant to be an acceptable partner for massive foreign aid. But it hands power back to many of the same Northern Alliance people who essentially ran the defense, interior and foreign ministries before Taliban rule.

The new defense minister, Muhammad Fahim, ran national security for Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Northern Alliance commander, in the early 90's. The new foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, whose family members served in the earlier, Soviet-backed government of Najibullah, was largely responsible for warming Mr. Massoud's relations with Russia. He has been a link between the northern forces and the outside world since the mid-80's. Yunus Qanooni, the new minister for interior and security, was interior minister until the Taliban took Kabul in 1996. In the earlier administration, he had personal control over most government institutions in the capital.

Outside of Kabul, the same regional warlords responsible for the chaos and misrule of the early 90's are grabbing power. They are again taking hold of the border crossings and are likely to use control of the roads to pursue the same extortion they practiced on civilians and commercial traffic the last time around.

It is a testament to the great desire for peace among Afghans that in spite of the bombing campaign, the great majority of ordinary Afghans do not resist a strong American role in curbing the chaos and, indeed, consider the United States the only honest broker left. Most surprisingly, the former Taliban leadership and the rank and file also see the United States as the only hope for peace.

They share the widespread fear that other leading foreign players -- Russia, Iran and Pakistan -- cannot be relied on to renounce their customary practice of destabilizing Afghanistan via proxy groups. The United States is trusted by Afghans to be neutral in the face of ethnic divisions and to rise above diplomatic expedience. Now, by asserting control over the roads and entry points, Americans can build stronger ties with the Afghan people. The roads have long been the lifelines of the Afghan nation. Commodities, people, power, ideas, news, law and order flow through them. American oversight of what crosses into, out of and through Afghanistan is critical to regaining order. It is also important for curbing the drug trade.

In Afghanistan, Americans will discover, you either rule the roads or you're just passing through.

Laili Zikria Helms was an adviser to officials in the Taliban foreign ministry.